System using natural conversation for monitoring a facility

ABSTRACT

A self-guided robot (bot) mechanism. An example bot may have a channel having an input for users, a cloud platform connected to the channel, a bot framework connected to the cloud platform, a web services module connected to the bot framework, and one or more drivers connected to the web services module. The one, the bot framework, the web services module and the drivers may be electronic hardware devices that effect their respective functions with a level of software managed and manipulated by the devices according to their respective algorithms.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/362,853, filed Mar. 25, 2019. U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/362,853, filed Mar. 25, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,458,622, is herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure pertains to communication approaches relative tomonitoring facilities.

SUMMARY

Channel having an input for users, a cloud platform connected to thechannel, a bot framework connected to the cloud platform, a web servicesmodule connected to the bot framework, and one or more drivers connectedto the web services module. The one, the bot framework, the web servicesmodule and the drivers may be electronic hardware devices that effecttheir respective functions with a level of software managed andmanipulated by the devices according to their respective algorithms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system that may aid in effecting a botstechnology strategy;

FIG. 2 is a diagram that may involve a use case of a room control bot;

FIG. 3 is a diagram that may involve a use case of a collaboration bot;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an overview of a bot system relating to more thanone company;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of bot activity involving a user;

FIG. 6 is diagram that pertains to a day beginning with a user querystatus indicated as active;

FIG. 7 is a diagram pertaining to alarm details;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of what may happen if a user clicks on a trendbutton in the diagram of FIG. 7 ;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of what may happen if a user clicks on a troubleshoot button in the diagram of FIG. 7 ;

FIG. 10 is a diagram of what may happen if a user clicks on an assignbutton in the diagram of FIG. 7 ; and

FIG. 11 is a diagram that indicates what may happen if a user clicks onan escalate button in the diagram of FIG. 7 .

DESCRIPTION

The present system and approach may incorporate one or more processors,computers, controllers, user interfaces, wireless and/or wireconnections, and/or the like, in an implementation described and/orshown herein.

This description may provide one or more illustrative and specificexamples or ways of implementing the present system and approach. Theremay be numerous other examples or ways of implementing the system andapproach.

Aspects of the system or approach may be described in terms of symbolsin the drawing. Symbols may have virtually any shape (e.g., a block) andmay designate hardware, objects, components, activities, states, steps,procedures, and other items.

A facility manager of a building today may manage a building using anexisting BMS (building maintenance system) which has several screensshowing different items of information linked to devices and controllersin the building. However, this process may require intensive training tounderstand how a BMS system works (with different dashboards, screens tonavigate, and so forth). A building owner may have to spendout-of-pocket money to train the people on the system. This may involvemany operational costs. A high attrition rate in operational staffsamong buildings, may be one of the biggest cost pain points. So, in anutshell, the issues that one may solve are the following items. Oneitem is an intensive training need and dependency on skilled labors foroperations. Another item is a need to maintain/fix a product more easilyand quickly. Different systems may be bridged for maintenance easily.There may be an app overkill for easy and minimal interaction withproducts and solutions. An issue may be a lack of using interaction datawith building systems today for any analytics andrecommendations/insights which are immediately valuable for facilitymanagers and building operators or owners.

A company may be investing for the following reasons. One may be to geta large existing installation base as a BMS service provider. Another isdata collection services being initiated (e.g., sentience data lake).

The present system and solution may result in the following advantages,which may include cost reduction (e.g., reduced manual effort),reduction of app overload, real time relevant data, and scalability of asolution that may be enhanced for handling multi-site enterprisescenarios.

A main value proposition of the solution lies in obtaining fasterinformation about buildings/homes that a company can capture (e.g.,interaction data), reduced downtime and more efficient facilitymaintenance, and control in the hands of the users (such as improvingcomfort, safety and security).

The business value may be assessed on the following fronts. A valueproposition for recurring revenue based on a number of messages, andbasic, intermediate, advanced features to be validated for usingconversation as a service (CaaS).

Some things to note may be what percent of costs can be saved forbuildings by reducing/eliminating training costs, what percentage ofcosts can be saved by reduced downtime and more efficient facilitymanagement such as placing service requests seamlessly through a bot.“Bot” may be a common nickname for a software robot, which may be anautomated tool that carries out repetitive and mundane tasks. A valueadded feature may be to remove an app overkill and provide conversationas a service through a single interface.

One may develop a re-usable voice- and chat-based engine leveraging abot framework that can interact with all supervisory systems ofbuildings and homes of today. The engine may consist of channels, aknowledge module and a cognitive analytics module.

Machine learning and skills/intents may be used to predict behavior ofstakeholders when they interact with buildings/homes

Specific use cases may be as in the following. A user may talk via a botto the specific building that he/she is in charge of, once arriving inthe morning. For example, one may ask about the status of the building,without learning specific scripts/commands. Multiple users may getsupport (e.g., facility managers, building operator, and owner) in agroup conversation with the building bot. A user may ask for basic dataabout the building like critical alarms and reports on demand.

A bots execution strategy may be noted. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system11 that may aid in effecting the bots technology strategy. It may havean AWS (Amazon™ Web Service Google™ cloud, or an advanced wirelessservice) 12, which in turn may include an API (application programminginterface) 13 connected to a sentinence module 14, which may be a botframework. API 13 may be connected to an API 15 of sentinence module 14.Sentinence module 14 may also have an NLP (natural language processing)module 16. A machine learning module 17 may be connected to naturallanguage processing module 16. An analytics module 18 may be connectedto NLP module 16. An API 19 may be connected to a graphical interfaceoutside of AWS 12. From outside of AWS 12 may be a connection fromchatbot 22 and an echo 23.

There may be many different types of APIs for operating systems,applications or websites. NLP may be a subfield of computer science,information engineering, and artificial intelligence concerned with theinteractions between computers and human (natural) languages, inparticular how to program computers to process and analyze large amountsof natural language data. REST may stand for representational statetransfer. It may rely on stateless, client-server, cacheablecommunications. In many cases, it may be used with the HTTP protocol.

A sentience module 14 may address a key set of issues in theinformation-rich world, namely, managing a flood of information thatpeople deal with, and, in parallel, providing the enterprise with anagile solution for managing unstructured data. Echo′ may be a technologythat deals with business process automation (BPA) by managinginformation, data and processes to reduce costs, and manage resourcesand investments. A chatbot (also known as a smartbots, talkbot,chatterbot, bot, IM bot, interactive agent, conversational interface, orartificial conversational entity) may be a computer program orartificial intelligence which conducts a conversation via auditory ortextual approaches.

A reusable voice- and chat-based engine may leverage a bot frameworkthat can interact with virtually all supervisory systems of buildingsand homes of today.

Bot frameworks may be used to execute the first two use cases andvalidate them with existing customers having acollaboration/notification bot (maintenance related), e.g., Avaamo™.

A room control bot (use related) may be used with a company botframework. One may work with a sentience to deploy a room control bot ina sentience cloud (a service consumed by virtually all brands) as partof a connected buildings roadmap. Machine learning and skills/intentsmay be used to predict behavior of stakeholders when they interact withbuildings/homes.

A business and deployment strategy may involve the following items.There may be a focus on installation, maintenance and use; related casesfor deployment; evaluation economics of using the bot framework vs usinga third party bot framework; a cost of hosting, data acquisition andretention, and analytics; and so on.

Also work may be done with product marketing across the Americas andEMEA to deploy pilots at existing NLI sites and evaluate valueproposition (WTP) plus customer feedback on user experience (UX).

There should be potential pilots for room control bot (use related), anda mock up villa in META (Middle East, Turkey and Africa) for an IHA(independent health association) NPI (national provider identifier)first deployment.

There may be potential pilots for a notification/collaboration bot, suchas IoT for retail (a pilot at lifetime fitness), and a commonsupervisor/connect2service (a pilot at trend energy bureau).

There may be a value proposition for recurring revenue (based on anumber of messages, features, that are basic, intermediate, advanced) tobe validated for using conversation as a service (CaaS). Things that maybe noted are what percentage of costs can be saved for buildings byreducing/eliminating training costs, and what percentage of costs can besaved by reduced downtime and more efficient facility management, thusplacing service requests seamlessly through bots. A value added featuremay be to remove app overkill and provide conversation as a servicethrough a single interface.

A voice and chat bot may be considered for interaction with buildingsand homes. Issues may include intensive training that needs dependencyon skilled labors for operations, seek to maintain and fix one's productmore easily and quickly, and bridge different systems for maintenanceeasily. One may avoid app overkill and seek easy and minimal interactionwith products and solutions, and not use interaction data withbuildings/homes systems today for any analytics and recommendations.

A present approach may incorporate developing a re-usable voice and chatbased engine leveraging an existing bot framework that can interact withall supervisory systems of buildings and homes today. The approach mayconsist of channels, a knowledge module, and a cognitive analyticsmodule. Machine learning and skills/intentions may be utilized topredict behavior of stakeholders when they interact with buildings andhomes.

A value proposition may be supported by faster information about theirbuildings/homes that a company can capture (interaction data), reduceddowntime and more efficient facility maintenance, and control in thehands of the users relative to enhancement of comfort, safety andsecurity.

Key stakeholders (value chain) may be of maintenance with a systemintegrator/facility manager/facility operator, and use with homeowners/building occupants.

A business model may include a bot on-demand model, a licensingframework/customized bot, and a subscription based model per message ormessages/per API.

Bots may result in cost reduction (reduced manual effort), reduced appoverload, better UX, real time data (relevant), and scalability ofsolution.

A company should have a large enough existing installation base as BMSservice providers. Data collection services may be initiated (asentience data lake).

Execution strategy may involve a use of bot frameworks to execute thefirst two use cases and validate them with existing customers,collaboration of bot (maintenance related), room control bot (userelated), a pilot with existing NPIs Beta/Alpha customers (commonsup/IoT for retail/IHA), and validate a target market and segment usingmarket research data.

A diagram of FIG. 2 may involve a use case no. 1 of a room control bot.An issue may include an app overkill where there is too much dependencyon different apps for different operations, and interaction date capturein that people are capturing equipment data from homes today but notknowing how the users interact with the system. Use case details mayincorporate where a user talks to a home either over voice or chatswithout having to learn specific commands. The user should be able tocontrol the lights, HVAC and blinds through the above channels, and theuser should be able to create and operate scenes/moods for rooms andhomes.

Features (a first pass) that may be completed using a company botframework include an HVAC for temperature control, light control foron/off and dimming, and IHA bot on Skype.

FIG. 3 may involve a use case of a collaboration bot. Issues may includeintensive training needs and dependencies on skilled labor foroperations, interaction data capture in that one may be capturingequipment data from homes today but not know how the user interacts withthe system. There may be an information overload in that relevancy ofinformation (context based) is a big issue today (for example,alarming).

Use case details may include a user that talks “to” the specificbuilding; he/she is in charge once the user comes in the morning with,e.g., a question of what is the status of my building, without learningspecific scripts/commands. There may be multiple users support (e.g.,facility manager, building operator, or owner) in a group conversationwith the building bot. A user should be able to ask for basic data ofthe building like critical alarms and reports on demand.

Features (the first pass) may incorporate two way communications using abot. The bot may initiate a conversation, for example, alarms/alerts. AnAvaamo™ bot framework may be used. There may be a comparative analysisof frameworks, such as that of technology and economics. Features (asecond pass) may incorporate multiple stakeholders on the same channelwith the bot.

The diagram of FIG. 2 shows a bot framework 25. People 26 may have aninteraction with various channels 27 of communication, such as aninternet. These channels may be connected to a cloud platform 28. Cloudplatform 28 may be connected to an NLP module 29 of bot framework 25.NLP module 29 may be connected to a knowledge module 31 and a cognitiveanalytics module 32. Bot framework 25 may be connected to a web servicemodule 33. Web service module 33 may be connected to one or more drivers34. REST APIs may be conveyed on the connection between web service 33and drivers 34. Proprietary control may be in an output of drivers 34,to control lighting, curtains, room wall modules, and other components.

The diagram of FIG. 3 is of a bot framework 40. Building stakeholders 41may communicate via various channels 47 with a cloud platform 43. An NLPmodule 44 of bot framework 40 may be connected with cloud platform 43.NLP module 44 may also be connected with knowledge module 45 andcognitive analytics module 46. Bot framework 40 may be connected to aweb service module 47, which in turn may be connected to one or moredrivers 48. REST APIs may be conveyed between web service 47 and drivers48. Drivers 48 may be connected to such things as BACnet.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an overview of a bot system relating to a company1 and a company 2. Company 1 may have component 51 and company 2 mayhave components 52 and 53. Component 51 may have a user 54 thatinteracts with a bot channel (web/FB/Skype) 55. Channel 55 may beconnected with a third party bot framework 56. An NLP module 57 may beconnected to third party bot framework 56. An end point module 58 ofcomponent 52 may be connected with third party bot framework 56 ofcomponent 51. End-point module 58 may be connected with a REST APImodule 59 of component 52. REST API module 59 may be connected with aREST API 61 of component 53. REST API 61 may be connected to a datastorage unit 62 and a cloud web app module 63 of component 53. A user 64may interact with cloud web app module 63. Component 53 may be connectedvia a cloud 65 with a BMS controller 66. A user 67 may interact with BMScontroller 66.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of activity involving a user 71, who may be regardedas “Joe”, a supervisor/maintenance engineer. A day may begin with aproactive notification (passive). The notification may be triggered forseveral reasons. One reason is from a geo location, in that one mayidentify an engineer who has entered or is about to enter a work place.Another reason is that a summary notification may be scheduled at 8:00AM every morning. A BMS bot 72 may say in a message 73, as text, voiceor another way, “Good morning Joe, Here are today's top three items.They might need your attention.” The three items may be graphicallydisplayed in boxes 74 indicating Alarm 1-RED, Alarm 2-BLUE and EnergyReport-YELLOW. The items are clickable. The item color signifiesimportance. Red is for critical alarms, blue is for noncritical alarms,and yellow is for reports. Other colors may be used. Each step of theapproach shown in FIG. 5 may be indicated with a number within a circle.Noticing items 74 is a first step. There may be a button 75 which can bepressed to request all available items, such as alarms, alerts andreports. Pressing button 75 or considering whether to press it may be asecond step.

FIG. 6 is diagram like that of FIG. 5 . It pertains to a day beginningwith a user query status indicated as active. User 71 may greet bot 72in the morning as shown in block 77 of a message 76. User 71 mayexplicitly request a system report as shown in block 78 of message 76.

FIG. 7 is a diagram pertaining to alarm details. User 71 may click on analarm as a first step in FIG. 5 . As a second step, a request in a block81 of message 76 by user 71 may be for a showing of a trend andinformation related to the trend. A third step may indicate activationof a trend button 85 in message 73 of BMS bot 72. A request in block 82may ask for recommendations, trouble shooting and possibly relatedinformation. A fourth step may indicate activation of a troubleshootbutton 86. A request in block 83 may be that an assignment of a topic athand be made to some particular person. A fifth step may indicateactivation of an assign button 87 in message 73. A request in a block 84of message 76 may be that of a manager, supervisor, or building operatorbe informed, and/or that the request be escalated. A sixth step mayindicate activation of an escalate button 88 in message 73.

Message 73, in FIG. 7 , may list an alarm name, alarm details, zoneinformation, zone name/details, equipment information and equipmentname/details in areas 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, and 106, respectively.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of what may happen if user 71 clicks on trend button85 in the diagram of FIG. 7 . BMS bot 72 may provide message 73 with atrend name, trend details and a chart of information in areas 107, 108and 109, respectively. Block 111 of message 76 may be a request fortrend details that can be effected with pressing a button 89 fordetails, as a seventh step. However, in block 112 of a message, one mayrequest a go-back to previous details or information of the trend. Thisrequest may be a B (back) step that is effected with pressing a button92 on message 73.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of what may happen if user 71 clicks on troubleshoot button 86 in a diagram of FIG. 7 . BMS bot 72 may provide amessage 73 with recommendations, step 1, step 1 details, step 2, step 2details, step 3, step 3 details, and so on, in areas 115, 116, 117, 118,119, 120 and 121, respectively, and so forth. Block 123 of message 76may indicate such things as mark it resolved, tag it resolved, mark itfixed, mark it ok, tag it good, and/or so on. To effect the informationin block 123, an eighth step to indicate resolution would be to pressbutton 90. As to a block 124 of message 76, it may indicate failed toresolve, failed, it does not work, mark it bad, and/or so on. To effectthe information in block 124, a ninth step would be to press button 91.However, to go back to previous details or information, the B (backstep) button 92 may be pressed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of what may happen if user 71 clicks on assignbutton 87 in the diagram of FIG. 7 . BMS bot 72 may provide a message 73with recommendations, such as assign to, “technician1@XYZ.com”,“technician2@XYZ.com”, or so on, to “technicianN@XYZ.com” in areas 131,132, 133 and 134, respectively. Area 135 may indicate the assignment to“tecnician2@XYZ.com”. Area 136 may indicate a work order created with anID number.

FIG. 11 is a diagram that indicates what may happen if user 71 clicks onescalate button 88 in the diagram of FIG. 7 . Message 76 of user 71 mayindicate in block 141, yes, to go ahead, sure, or the like, to aquestion in area 143 that asks whether you are sure you want to escalateto MyManager@XYZ.com. If yes, button 144 is pressed, then a manager isinformed according to an area 145 of message 73. On the other hand,message 76 of user 71 may indicate in block 142 no, cancel, later, notnow, not today, or so on, to the question in area 143. If a no button146 is pressed, then an ok button 147 in message 73, may confirm not toescalate.

For an interaction, in the seventh step of a clicking by user 71 onbutton 89 in FIG. 8 , about details of a trend, user 71 may open adetails view link in a web browser.

There may be a software component. A stack level may be a cloudproviding a secure, scalable infrastructure for collecting, aggregatingand storing data, allowing connected “things” to communicate, and makingan offering/SaaS solution available, IaaS/PaaS, and data lakes. Thestack level may include consumption of domain specific, differentiatedsoftware enabled offerings and services delivered via a cloud or aprivate enterprise network.

A software type may be software enabled system, software incidental tothe present solution, a system deployed using software or deployedmanually (without the software) (e.g., a new process that uses asoftware control system). There may be an IoT (Internet of Things)component.

To recap, a software guided robot (bot) mechanism for performingautomatic repetitive tasks, may incorporate one or more channels havingan input for users or building stakeholders, a cloud platform connectedto the one or more channels, a bot framework connected to the cloudplatform, a web services module connected to the bot framework, and oneor more drivers connected to the web services module. The one or morechannels, the bot framework, the web services module and the drivers maybe electronic devices that effect their respective functions with alevel of software managed and manipulated by hardware of the electronicdevices according to their respective algorithms.

The bot framework may incorporate a natural language processor connectedto the cloud platform, a knowledge storage module connected to thenatural language processor, and a cognitive analytics processorconnected to the natural language processor.

The web service may be connected to one or more drivers.

One or more drivers may be connected to a network.

The network may use a BACnet protocol.

A bot system for one or more companies, may incorporate a firstcomponent having a user interface, a natural language processing module,a third party bot framework connected to the natural language processingmodule, and a bot channel connected to the user interface; a secondcomponent having an end point module connected to the third party botframework, and a first representational state transfer applicationprogramming interface connected to the end point module; and a thirdcomponent having a second representational state transfer applicationprogramming interface connected to the first representational statetransfer application programming interface, a cloud web applicationconnected to the second representational state transfer applicationprogramming interface, a storage module connected to the secondrepresentational state transfer application programming interface, and asecond user interface connected to the cloud web application.

The cloud web application may be connected to a cloud.

The system may further incorporate a building management systemcontroller connected to the cloud.

The system may further incorporate a third user interface connected tothe building management system controller.

The first user interface, the second user interface or the third userinterface may be for input of an inquiry about a building supervised bythe building management system controller, and for an output in responseto the inquiry.

Periodic reports at the first user interface, the second user interfaceor the third user interface may include critical alarms, non-criticalalarms and reports about a building supervised by the buildingmanagement system controller.

The first component may be associated with a first company, and thesecond and third components may be associated with a second company.

A system of natural language conversation may incorporate one or morechannels, and a bot framework. The bot framework may incorporate anatural language processor connected to at least one of the one or morechannels, a knowledge module connected to the natural languageprocessor, a cognitive analytics module connected to the naturallanguage processor, and a web services module connected to the botframework.

The natural language processor, the knowledge module, the cognitiveanalytics module, and the web services module may be constructed fromelectronics hardware having a component of software managed by theelectronics hardware to effect one or more functions of the respectivemodule.

The web services module may be connected to the building managementsystem.

The one or more channels may be selected from a group incorporating anEcho™ chatbot, Google™ Alexa™ Siri™, and a cell phone.

The web services module may be connected to one or more drivers.

The one or more drivers may be connected to a network having a protocol,and the network may be connected to one or more devices selected from agroup incorporating room temperature controls, lighting controls,curtain controls, door controls, and vent controls.

The one or more drivers may be connected to a building managementsystem.

A user may ask a question and receive answer, via the one or morechannels, the bot framework and/or the drivers, about a buildingsupervised by the building management system.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/877,929, filed Jan. 23, 2018, ishereby incorporated by reference.

Any publication or patent document noted herein is hereby incorporatedby reference to the same extent as if each publication or patentdocument was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporatedby reference.

In the present specification, some of the matter may be of ahypothetical or prophetic nature although stated in another manner ortense.

Although the present system and/or approach has been described withrespect to at least one illustrative example, many variations andmodifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art uponreading the specification. It is therefore the intention that theappended claims be interpreted as broadly as possible in view of therelated art to include all such variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A robot (bot) system for one or more companies,comprising: a first component having a user interface, a naturallanguage processing module, a third party bot framework connected to thenatural language processing module, and a bot channel connected to theuser interface; a second component having an end point module connectedto the third party bot framework, and a first representational statetransfer application programming interface connected to the end pointmodule; and a third component having a second representational statetransfer application programming interface connected to the firstrepresentational state transfer application programming interface. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein the third component further has a cloudweb application connected to the second representational state transferapplication programming interface, a storage module connected to thesecond representational state transfer application programminginterface, and a second user interface connected to the cloud webapplication.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the cloud web applicationis connected to a cloud.
 4. The system of claim 3, further comprising: abuilding management system controller connected to the cloud; and athird user interface connected to the building management systemcontroller.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the first user interface,the second user interface or the third user interface is for input of aninquiry about a building supervised by the building management systemcontroller, and for an output in response to the inquiry.
 6. The systemof claim 4, wherein periodic reports at the first user interface, thesecond user interface or the third user interface include criticalalarms, non-critical alarms and reports about a building supervised bythe building management system controller.
 7. The system of claim 2,wherein: the first component is associated with a first company; and thesecond and third components are associated with a second company.
 8. Asystem of natural language conversation comprising: at least onechannel; and a robot (bot) framework; and wherein the bot frameworkcomprises: a natural language processor connected to at least one of theat least one channel; a knowledge module connected to the naturallanguage processor; and a cognitive analytics module connected to thenatural language processor.
 9. The system of claim 8, further comprisinga web services module connected to the bot framework.
 10. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the natural language processor, the knowledge module,the cognitive analytics module, and the web services module areconstructed from electronics hardware having a component of softwaremanaged by the electronics hardware to effect at least one function ofthe respective module.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein the webservices module is connected to a building management system.
 12. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the at least one channel is selected from agroup comprising an Alexa™, Echo™, Google™, Siri™, chatbot, and a cellphone.
 13. The system of claim 9, wherein the web services module isconnected to one or more drivers.
 14. The system of claim 9, wherein:the one or more drivers are connected to a network having a protocol;and the network is connected to one or more devices selected from agroup comprising room temperature controls, lighting controls, curtaincontrols, door controls, and vent controls.
 15. The system of claim 13,wherein the one or more drivers are connected to a building managementsystem.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein a user can ask a questionand receive an answer, via the one or more channels, the bot frameworkor the one or more drivers, about a building supervised by the buildingmanagement system.
 17. A software guided robot (bot) mechanism forperforming automatic repetitive tasks, comprising: one or more channelshaving an input for users or building stakeholders; a cloud platformconnected to the one or more channels; a bot framework connected to thecloud platform; and a web services module connected to the botframework.
 18. The mechanism of claim 17, wherein the one or morechannels, the bot framework, the web services module and the drivers areelectronic devices that effect their respective functions with a levelof software managed and manipulated by hardware of the electronicdevices according to their respective algorithms.
 19. The mechanism ofclaim 17, wherein the bot framework comprises: a natural languageprocessor connected to the cloud platform; a knowledge storage moduleconnected to the natural language processor; and a cognitive analyticsprocessor connected to the natural language processor.
 20. The mechanismof claim 17, wherein: the web services module is connected to one ormore drivers; and the one or more drivers are connected to a network;and the network uses a BACnet protocol.